10 Worst Cities Around the World to Hail a Taxi

The reputation of the taxi industry differs from one city to another. Some places might be infested with bad drivers, while others are known for its honest and courteous ones.

Try to recall your past few taxi rides. Were you dissatisfied with the service? Do you constantly experience problems with cab drivers? Are reports of bad taxi drivers common in your area? If yes, then your city might not be an ideal location to hail a cab.

Not sure? Well, we compiled the top 10 cities around the world with the worst taxi experience just for you! These locations are ranked based on the quality of driving, quality of vehicles, cleanliness, safety, friendliness, knowledge, availability, and value. If you’re planning on taking a trip on these cities by using a cab, you might want to reconsider your decision.

10. Phnom Penh, Cambodia

It’s good to see passionate drivers who are determined to work harder to get more customers. However, in Phnom Penh, taxi drivers might be a little too overly passionate. Cabbies will follow you and insist that you take their service. If they notice that you’re a tourist, they will offer themselves to be your personal tour guide. Sometimes, taxi drivers will harass you and become quite aggressive to force you into riding with them. While they may not have harmful intentions rather than to make a couple of bucks, but if you’re easily annoyed, then don’t wander off the streets too much. In this city, it’s harder to get rid of taxi drivers than it is to hail one.

9. Bangkok, Thailand

Many tourists leave Thailand with happy memories of hospitable and polite local taxi drivers who even put on the air-conditioning. However, although getting in a cab won’t be a problem, but arriving at your destination might be. The roads and highways are so congested with traffic that you might find yourself spending hours on the road! Regardless of the distance of your destination, the traffic is so chaotic that it’s best to travel by a waterway instead.

8. Mumbai, India

For some of us, we can’t even stand cars jamming up the roadways. If you’re in Mumbai, you won’t only be sharing the streets with vehicles – but with camels, pedestrians, buses, and even elephants! Moreover, most taxi drivers seem to neglect traffic rules when crossing the roads, so you might constantly find yourself dodging traffic police officials. Other than that, you have nothing else to worry about. These cabbies won’t be able to speed off Fast and the Furious style due to traffic jams. In fact, during rush hours, you might be better off walking.

7. New York, USA

The streets of NYC may be filled with yellow cabs, but the irony is that you may still be struggling to find an empty cab. The cab per person ratio is at a whopping 1 per 349 passengers. This is because the city is such a popular tourist destination with hundreds of visitors roaming around the area. So although there are fleets of taxis swarming the roads, finding an unoccupied one may be quite a challenge.

6. Athens, Greece

If Phnom Penh taxi drivers are more than willing to take you to a tour ride, cabbies from Athens are their alter egos. Although there are about 14,000 yellow cabs driving around the city, standing at the roadside and hailing one is not as easy as it seems. You see, these guys can be quite picky with their passengers. Whether an empty cab pulls over depends entirely on the loudness and clarity of your voice. Sometimes they’ll only take you in if you’re going in the same direction as them. Also, if you’re the type of guy who always asks for receipts, then you might be in for some disappointment. Greek cabbies aren’t big fans of giving out receipts. So think about that next time you hop in their vehicle.

5. Jakarta, Indonesia

Jakarta is one of the South East Asian countries who’s well-known for its extremely condensed roads. At the very least, the local government is trying their best to combat these issues such as copying Singapore’s traffic regulations. Because of that, each vehicle must be occupied by at least 3 people to be permitted to drive on the road. If you’re not comfortable about getting stuck in traffic jams and sharing a car with a bunch of strangers, then you might have to consider taking their air-conditioned bus instead.

4. Mexico City, Mexico

Oh, the cute little green beetle taxis. They’re definitely pretty and appealing to the eyes, but let yourself be fooled. Behind those green painted doors are a few mischievous taxi drivers. There had been many reports of cab drivers kidnapping their passengers or robbing them. If you’ve stayed long enough in this city, you’d be surprised to know that these problems are quite common. Therefore, we suggest you to book a cab in advanced from a reputable taxi company.

3. Manila, Philippines

It’s chaos out there. You will find the weirdest modes of transportation – from public utility jeepneys and tricycles, they’ve got it all. But don’t flatter yourself with the abundance of transportation options, as mentioned earlier, it’s chaos out there. Taxis in Manila are well-known for their scamming drivers. One of their most common scams is trying to trick you to pay extra by claiming that the taximeter is broken. The city is also infamous for kidnapping, robbery, and harassment from taxi drivers to their passengers.

2. Beijing, China

People who have experienced riding a cab in Beijing all have the same story – taxi drivers are snub. Most of the time, they refuse to take customers on their destination because the traffic is bad in the destination direction. Taxi drivers also have the tendency to overcharge you and if you refuse, you won’t get the ride. In the end, you’ll find yourself spending unnecessary time hailing for a cab on the streets.

1. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Cabbies from Kuala Lumpur are infamous for overcharging clients and detouring. And most taxi drivers on this list, they usually refuse to use the taximeter. Moreover, a worldwide survey showed that tourists had problems regarding the quality of customer service, level of professionalism, and hardware index among taxi drivers. Most importantly, many passengers complain about the lack of effective monitoring systems from the local government.

Is your city included on this list? Tell us about your own taxi experiences in the comments down below!